Stevie Johnson enjoys Rob Gronkowski's humor

Friday

Nov 9, 2012 at 6:00 AM

By Jennifer Toland TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Stevie Johnson didn’t see Rob Gronkowski’s “little nutcracker dude that’s guarding the house” touchdown celebration in London two weeks ago, but the Buffalo Bills’ wide receiver heard about it and, as you may imagine, appreciated Gronk’s creativity.

“I like Gronkowski,” Johnson said during a conference call this week. “He is good.”

After catching a 37-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick two years ago at Gillette Stadium, Johnson went behind the end zone where the Minutemen stand with their muskets, fired off his own “air” musket, and fell to the ground.

“Actually, that was not even planned,” Johnson said. “The Patriots scored, the musket went off and scared me on the sideline. I was like, ‘OK, I got something for them.’ ”

Johnson was fined $10,000 for that little scene, as well as the one against the Jets when he pretended to shoot himself in the thigh — his parody of former New York receiver Plaxico Burress.

Johnson said he doesn’t have anything prepared for Sunday when the Bills visit the Patriots at 1 p.m. — “I pretty much just want to get in the end zone and keep my team ahead,” he said — but he does think TD celebrations are a fun part of the game.

“I think it’s we just put in this work from Monday all the way to Sunday,” Johnson said. “You know how hard it is to get in the end zone. Just to get there is like, ‘Man, I did it.’ I think it should be legal to celebrate at least with your teammates.

“We understand there are certain things you cannot do. I know I have done some things that you should not be able to do, but for the most part, if it is a simple celebration, I think that should be good with any team.”

The 26-year-old Johnson suffered a thigh bruise in last week’s loss to the Texans and was held out of Wednesday’s practice, but was back on the field yesterday and expects to be good to go against the Patriots.

New England limited Johnson to two catches for 23 yards in its 52-28 win over the Bills in September, but he is quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s favorite target and, along with running backs C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson, a focal point of the Buffalo offense.

Johnson leads the team with 35 receptions for 416 yards and four touchdowns.

“This offense is very explosive on the ground and in the air,” Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork said. “They can put up points in a hurry. We understand how important it is for us defensively to start fast.”

Johnson, a seventh-round draft pick out of Kentucky, had his breakout year in 2010. Last year, while playing with a torn groin, Johnson became the first Bills player to post back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons.

The Bills managed just three field goals last week against the Texans. They ran the ball only 16 times and didn’t get anything going in the downfield pass game despite a lot of one-on-one coverage.

Perhaps the Bills and Fitzpatrick will be more tempted to try and go deep against the still-unproven Patriots secondary.

“You’ve got to pick times to be aggressive and throw the ball,” Fitzpatrick said this week. “You’ve got to pick times to continue to try to move it and throw the ball, run to get first downs, that kind of stuff.”

In the Patriots’ last game before their bye, they allowed a 50-yard touchdown pass on the St. Louis Rams’ first possession, but otherwise did OK.

“They make plays when they need to, for the most part,” Johnson said of New England’s defensive backs. “They win games. We all know about the offense, but it still takes the defense to make plays and hold opponents off. They have done that.

“I cannot say they are the greatest, but when it’s time to play, they definitely step up when needed. They are a good bunch.”